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Monday, 27 January 2014

GUEST BLOG: The traveller manifesto: How future consumers are transforming business travel

A manifesto is a
statement of belief. As the Business
Travel Show marks its 20th anniversary, we believe that the industry
is in the midst of a profound transformation.

Over the last decade,
the ‘Digital Wave’ – social, ‘Always On’, multiplatform computing – has been
reshaping the business landscape and empowering consumers. It has also accelerated the blending of work and
leisure travel habits and preferences. Over
the next ten years, we believe that business
travel will become an inspirational experience through personalised,
technology-infused services.

According to our
recent Future of Travel study*, 6 out of
10 British Millennials already extend their travel into leisure trips and 79%
use their Smartphone and/or Tablet for booking travel and monitoring
itineraries, a number only surpassed by Norway at 83% across Europe.

As these personal and business
work styles ‘blur’, the premium Millennials place on valid ‘value exchanges’ will
become even more real: UK business
travellers score higher than other Europeans in willingness to store or save personal data on travel sites
in exchange for incentives (discounts, loyalty points, upgrades, etc), with
Norway and Spain coming in at 83% and 72% respectively.

Lastly, Millennials are communicators. They
prioritize and invest in 2 way communications before, during and after their
trips. Specifically, 75% of UK employees consider travel reviews to be important
for business, the highest level in Europe after Spain which is at 76%.

Looking forward, what
does this mean?

The advent of social
networks and proliferation of user generated content has always been about end
user empowerment. In 2002, Egencia disrupted the industry by unlocking travel agent information and
bringing it to the traveller. As we
look ahead, we see a corporate travel landscape that continues to be consumer-inspired,
integrates global technology with advanced services and supports the mobile work force.

The ‘moments of truth’
business travellers have – making an informed reservation, the need for safety,
the ability to alter and share itineraries mid-trip, will not change. The way they experience these moments will.

In order to deliver on
this promise, TMCs must provide access to full content, itinerary flexibility
and next-generation customer services.
For their part, Travel Managers can take advantage of these macrotrends
to drive productivity by infusing their programs with traveller preferences,
enabling multiplatform communications and maximizing
the power of smartphones, tablets and PCs for their travellers.

A manifesto is a
statement of belief.

As we define the
future of travel, let’s engage with our travellers by delivering empowering,
integrated, and personal experiences that will make life, and ‘life on the road’, an inspiration.

Jeannette Liendo is Global Director, Marketing Communications, Egencia, an Expedia, Inc.
company. During BTS, she will
be leading the workshop “Blurred Lines: The Future of Business Travel” on Wednesday, Feb. 5 from 10.15 to 11.30 at theBusiness
Hub Theatre.